I've noticed when I have any cereal for breakfast, my bloog sugar skyrockets to over 200. I tried taking 1 more unit of insulin but then I end up hypo. Does anyone else have trouble with cereal?
Are you on shots or pump?
Yes, I have also had trouble with it in the past, not to mention that I feel kind of sick after eating it. Now I try to eat lower carb food for breakfast - eggs, cottage cheese, almonds, yogurt, oatmeal (with some kind of fat or protein to slow down digestion). I also have the dawn phenomenon so adding carbs into the mix in the morning isn't the best idea for me.
I'm on shots right now but I'll be switching to a pump in a couple of weeks
Nilesh,
Once you make the pump switch you may want to play with your basals through the morning hours. I am (as Payton already talked about) another dawn phenomenon doser -and I have found that for me, increasing my basal by .2 units between the hours of 2am and 8:30am made all the difference. I know a number of folks who don't extend it nearly that late in the day. It took some trial and error. Test often after you move to the pump, see what your blood sugars are doing in those AM hours. The other possibility is that you’re dropping low before you wake up and you are eating as you are rebounding… If that’s the problem, a higher basal will surely make it worse…
I am sure some of the folks who’ve been pumping longer than me will probably have some better insights and other approaches, too…
Good luck and keep us posted as you move to the (mostly) shot-free world J
Cheers,
A-D
what is the dawn phenomenon?
danat,
I am going to take my best swing at answering your question - but let's hope someone will step in and button up the bits I either miss or get wrong...
The dawn phenomenon refers to high blood sugars that occur overnight (and for some of us into the morning) due to hormones that are released while we sleep. While we sleep the body releases hormones that are used for repair (and for you younger viewers, growth). These hormones signal the liver to produce and release glucose.
The tricky bit is this is one of two common reasons for high blood sugars in the morning. The other one is due to the body rebounding from overnight hypoglycemia. If this is happening, giving more insulin at night to cover those morning lows will lead to even higher blood sugars…
Let’s see if anyone else wants to step in and correct or add detail… J
Cheers,
A-D
I think you nailed it pretty well, A-D.
Yes, I agree. My daughter has the same problem specially with cereals that have sugars, no doubt the best cereal is regular plain Cheerios.
We were recently told about the glycemic index of foods, but we haven't really gotten ourselves well versed in it (you can read more here).
I get the idea, though, basically it's the amount of sugars for the size of the serving. The type of sugar and more sugar per gra effectively drives up the index on the food and leads to highs for T1s. It's also not great for any of us to swing.
For example, half a banana and graham cracker for morning snack (20g CHO) equals a perfect lunch reading for Beemer. A Chewy Chocolate Chip and Marshmallow granola bar (also 20g CHO) and he's high at lunch.
So, yeah, the Cheerios thing is a good thing, as are most based mostly on whole grains. We've also switched to Basmati (rice is a staple in our household) and things like that.
what kind of cereal are you eating? Lots of cereals are really high in carbohydrates... even things like cheerios... and to make it worse they have no protein or very little fibre to help the food digest slower and so your blood sugars spike and drop just as quickly. I dont really eat cereal unless Im eating some really 'good for you' cereal thats loaded with fibre and slower acting grains.
Be sure to measure. Some cereals have servig size of 1/2 cup, some 1 and 1/2 cups...some 3/4ths. Also I adjusted my carb ratio on my pump for breakfast to twice the ratio during the rest of the day...ie i am 15 carbs per unit and at breakfast I'm 8.
Hope this helps